BACKGROUND: Body satisfaction is an important issue for youth. Youth with more severe asthma may have experiences and emotions associated with less body satisfaction; however, this has not been studied. OBJECTIVE: To identify correlates of body dissatisfaction in youth with asthma. METHODS: Sixty-three females and 60 males, ages 8-18 years with asthma, completed measures of body dissatisfaction, anxiety, depression, asthma symptoms, and behaviors. Parents completed measures of asthma limitations; clinicians rated asthma severity. RESULTS: Anxiety, depression, and body mass index (BMI) accounted for 21 and 15% of the variance in body dissatisfaction for females and males, respectively. Physical activity added 13% variance to the above model for females. Asthma symptoms added 14% for males. Of note, neither parent ratings of asthma limitations nor clinician ratings of asthma severity contributed additional variance. CONCLUSION: This study increases our understanding of youth with asthma and provides future research directions.
BACKGROUND: Body satisfaction is an important issue for youth. Youth with more severe asthma may have experiences and emotions associated with less body satisfaction; however, this has not been studied. OBJECTIVE: To identify correlates of body dissatisfaction in youth with asthma. METHODS: Sixty-three females and 60 males, ages 8-18 years with asthma, completed measures of body dissatisfaction, anxiety, depression, asthma symptoms, and behaviors. Parents completed measures of asthma limitations; clinicians rated asthma severity. RESULTS:Anxiety, depression, and body mass index (BMI) accounted for 21 and 15% of the variance in body dissatisfaction for females and males, respectively. Physical activity added 13% variance to the above model for females. Asthma symptoms added 14% for males. Of note, neither parent ratings of asthma limitations nor clinician ratings of asthma severity contributed additional variance. CONCLUSION: This study increases our understanding of youth with asthma and provides future research directions.